Hello Everyone,
 
If I am ready for the final mix of a song, should I mix down the softsynths first to audio tracks before continuing with the mix/master process?
 
Thank You,
Adam

I would. I usually bounce everything down and then do all my mix processing on the audio itself. For me, having all my tracks as audio makes it easier for me to manage and put together a mix, since it's apples to apples with everything being audio. I archive and hide all the MIDI at that point and only go back to it if there's an edit that requires retooling the MIDI. 
 
Also, if the project ever goes kablooey, you still have the raw audio tracks to rebuild the whole thing. 

I don't.
 
I keep everything live & in Midi because I often like to go back and add/change parts.
 
One concession i will make in a busy project is simply to freeze the synths - not the the tracks, the synths.
This way I too will be working with purely audio tracks, and if I DO want to change something, then a quick unfreeze/edit/refreeze is a very quick workaround - and it's quicker than bouncing.

Bristol,

Shouldn't all edits/changes musically be done before the mix process?
 
Thanks,
Adam

Not in my world......
 
In a perfect world maybe, but I never approach Sonar with a complete song in my head, so I compose/record/mix simultaneously

Bristol_Jonesey
I don't. I keep everything live & in Midi because I often like to go back and add/change parts. One concession i will make in a busy project is simply to freeze the synths - not the the tracks, the synths.This way I too will be working with purely audio tracks, and if I DO want to change something, then a quick unfreeze/edit/refreeze is a very quick workaround - and it's quicker than bouncing.

Same here, Colin.

The only other time I'll freeze (a synth, not track) is if it has random elements, e.g. a pad that changes randomly over time.

Bristol_Jonesey
Not in my world......
 
In a perfect world maybe, but I never approach Sonar with a complete song in my head, so I compose/record/mix simultaneously

 
Shouldn't you compose/record, THEN mix?   Shouldn't the "song" musically be done before the mix?

It's a matter of preference. Personally I like to separate the composition and mix processes for the sake of sanity. Not that I won't go back and add/edit after I've started mixing if it calls for it but for me it makes a clean workflow to be able to say "okay, the song is written, now I'm going to mix it." It helps organize my little brain.
 

aglewis723

Bristol_Jonesey
Not in my world......
 
In a perfect world maybe, but I never approach Sonar with a complete song in my head, so I compose/record/mix simultaneously

 
Shouldn't you compose/record, THEN mix?   Shouldn't the "song" musically be done before the mix?

A mix engineer may well re-record parts, or add parts, during the mix.
 
For example, sometimes I find, whilst mixing a song, that I cannot get a piano part to sit well with a guitar part.  Simply shifting one part up or down (using a different chord inversion) is enough to stop one masking the other.
 
If I re-amp a guitar part to sit better in the mix, it might then affect another part differently, so being able to edit a MIDI part becomes useful.

jb101

aglewis723

Bristol_Jonesey
Not in my world......
 
In a perfect world maybe, but I never approach Sonar with a complete song in my head, so I compose/record/mix simultaneously

 
Shouldn't you compose/record, THEN mix?   Shouldn't the "song" musically be done before the mix?

A mix engineer may well re-record parts, or add parts, during the mix.
 
For example, sometimes I find, whilst mixing a song, that I cannot get a piano part to sit well with a guitar part.  Simply shifting one part up or down (using a different chord inversion) is enough to stop one masking the other.
 
If I re-amp a guitar part to sit better in the mix, it might then affect another part differently, so being able to edit a MIDI part becomes useful.

Even that stuff technically "should" be done in the tracking phase... it's still musical edits, no?  I could be wrong, or maybe there is no stinkin' rules, its music for God's sake :)